Settling in

 

One of the biggest reliefs for the couple comes in the form of a part-time administrative assistant. The new assistant is helping Jennifer with invoicing and payroll two to three days a week, which will hopefully alleviate the issues they were facing with late invoices. 

 

“It’s been giving me more time to focus on other things and have some personal time,” Davies says.

 

Naylor and Davies are starting to settle into their more defined roles in the business, too. Naylor has been managing then operations side of things, which has been seamless with all the snowfall. The true test will come in the spring when the busy season starts. Davies says she anticipates that staying tied to their specific duties might be a struggle when the snow melts. 

 

“I’ve been able to tell our employees if they have an issue that Naylor is supposed to handle,” she says. “I’m starting to let them know when they need to talk to Naylor about things.”

 

All on board. Once Bill Arman and Ed LaFlamme left, Naylor and Davies had a team meeting to go over everything they discussed with the Harvesters. They even addressed the goal to hit the 2-million mark in 2021. When they went over what the company needed to work on, the team’s response was simple: “We can do that.”

 

“The team is really on board with the new changes,” she says. “We have the management people; we just need more (field) employees.”

 

Right now, Pratt’s employs 16 people, but Davies says the ideal number of employees is 25. 

 

Recruiting season is gearing up for Davies, and she’s planning on heading to career fairs at local colleges armed with recruiting tips from Bill and Ed. In the meantime, she was able to hire two additional employees with experience in gardening and landscape construction, one of which came from a local job fair.

 

The couple even found a short-term solution for their employee housing issue. A client let them know he wouldn’t be visiting this summer, leaving his summer house empty for the season. Davies was able to rent the five-bedroom property out for the summer and she plans on using it to house five apprentices this summer.  

Expansion plans. Davies’ greenhouse plans are still well underway, and she plans on starting construction on the site, which sits on their property, on June 15. 

 

“We’ve spent four to five years planning this out,” she says. She feels confident that they’ll be able to profit from the new revenue segment. The greenhouse also offers a solution to the space issue that comes with running a business in their backyard. 

 

“It was easy in the past to have team meetings at the kitchen table,” Davies says. Now that the company plans to add employees, she’s looking forward to being able to hold meetings inside the greenhouse office space. The current goal is to have the grand opening on Mother’s Day 2020, which falls on May 8 in Canada. 

 

Havester’s Take. Most of core team will be returning from last year! This is great news. Davies has also hired a part time assistant to help free her up to lead the business and to work on the business. Davies will be attending several recruiting job fairs at the local colleges at the end of March. 

 

The Harvesters will be helping Davies “tool up” with some great recruiting tips that will help attract students to Pratt’s. 

 

Housing is such an issue for seasonal workers that Davies has already arranged housing for five apprentices for the summer. This was arranged with a client who has a property that will accommodate these seasonal team members. 

 

This is the most critical part of the business. Harvesters say ABR: Always Be Recruiting! By the looks of it, they get this!   

 

When it comes to Davies’ and Naylor’s roles, it’s a lot easier when it’s snowing since this is Naylor’s wheelhouse. We will need to clearly identify Naylor’s and Davies’ roles in writing. Their relationship has been pretty good so far.  Naylor will need to stay in his lane during the summer, but can he do this?    

 

They are starting the very ambitious greenhouse project in May. The goal will be to have the Grand Opening on Mother’s Day 2020. They plan on doing a soft opening a week before.

 

We believe when you have a plan, a vision and the determination that Davies has, this project has a good chance of being completed. Will it make MONEY?